From the "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" file: Two scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky, have revived a plant from the Pleistocene era which lived between 32,000-28,000 years ago. The seeds of the plant were discovered inside the stomach of a squirrel frozen in the Siberian permafrost. — Read the rest

Burbank librarian Sarah McKinley Oakes (proprietor of the excellent Remains of LA blog, which reviews all of LA's surviving grand old restaurants and dives) uses her excellent librarian skills to take a deep dive into the tragic tale of Diana Jean Heaney, whose first mention in print was in a 1947 article on the notorious "Black Dahlia" murder, but only to mention that Heaney was definitely not a victim of the same murderer.

The Remains of LA blog has a mission: to "visit all the cool old places in LA (not all at once)." I met its proprietress today, working at my local Burbank library, and I share her passion for LA's old restaurants, though I lack her devotion! — Read the rest